Monday, 26 June 2017

The government is moving ahead to investigate whether there were any wrongdoings in the massive foreign exchange losses suffered by Bank Negara some 25 years ago. Many people today may not have a good recollection of what happened, while many others probably had no knowledge of it until it became news again recently as the sitting government took aim at this nasty episode under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s rule.

I was a reporter with Reuters then and had covered the losses that surfaced when the central bank released its annual reports for 1992 and 1993 in March 1993 and March 1994, respectively. I recall that those losses first puzzled me and others because bank officials did not come forward to talk about them at the press conference nor was the information contained in the press release. They were, however, disclosed in the last few pages of the 1992 report on the bank’s financial statement, which normally do not attract attention, as reporters would focus on the earlier parts that touched on the performance of the economy and banking sector.

But that year, we took a cursory look at those back pages and spotted something odd. Bank Negara’s financial statement showed its Other Reserves had plunged from RM10.1 billion in 1991 to RM743 million in 1992, or a loss of RM9.3 billion. There was also a Contingent Liability of RM2.7 billion.

When we asked about this, I recall that both then Bank Negara governor, the late Tan Sri Jaafar Hussein, and his deputy, Tan Sri Dr Lin See Yan, said it was nothing serious, as they were mere paper losses that could be recovered later. We were not convinced, but we were unable to challenge them, as we did not under stand the manner in which Bank Negara presented its accounts.

The next day, however, the market was abuzz with talk that the bank had lost billions in foreign exchange transactions and I remember writing stories on this for the next week or so. But nothing more came of it, although opposition MPs led by Lim Kit Siang continued to press the Ministry of Finance and Bank Negara for answers.

The matter really blew up a year later when Bank Negara tabled its 1993 report and disclosed another forex loss of RM5.7 billion. Here is what Jaafar said:

“In the Bank’s 1993 accounts, a net deficiency in foreign exchange transactions of RM5.7 billion is reported, an amount which will be written off against the Bank’s future profits. This loss reflected errors in judgment involving commitments made with the best intentions to protect the national interest prior to the publication of the Bank’s 1992 accounts towards the end of March 1993. As these forward transactions were unwound, losses unfolded in the course of 1993. In this regard, global developments over the past year had not been easy for the Bank; indeed, they made it increasingly difficult for the Bank to unwind these positions without some losses. For the most part, time was not on the Bank’s side. Nevertheless, this exercise is now complete — there is at this time no more contingent liabi lity on the Bank’s forward foreign exchange transactions on this account. An unfortunate chapter in the Bank’s history is now closed.”

Jaafar took responsibility for what happened and resigned, as did the bank official directly responsible for its foreign exchange operations, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

How did Bank Negara lose the billions?

Jaafar said the losses were owing to commitments made to protect the nation’s interests. He was referring to the bank’s operations in the global forex market to manage the country’s foreign reserves and, obviously, something went wrong in a big way.

Forex traders and journalists who covered financial markets in the late 1980s knew that Bank Negara had a reputation for taking aggressive positions to influence the value of the ringgit against the major currencies. When the bank is not happy with the direction of the ringgit, up or down, it makes its intentions known by either selling or buying ringgit.

One question I had always asked forex dealers when writing market reports for Reuters was, “Is Negara in the market today?”

Bank Negara has always maintained that its market operations were to prevent volatility and undue speculation. Its critics, on the other hand, said it also did so for profits, which it enjoyed for years.

What went wrong in 1992?

That was the year George Soros and other hedge funds bet heavily against the British pound on the basis that it was overvalued. The Bank of England (BOE) fought back by buying billions of sterling while Soros and gang shorted the battered currency.

As it did not want to deplete too much of its reserves to defend the fixed rate of the pound within the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, BOE capitulated by withdrawing from the ERM on Sept 16, 1992, since called Black Wednesday.

It was widely believed then that Bank Negara had bet on the wrong side of the fight between BOE and the hedge funds. It never thought that central banks could lose against specu lators, but BOE lost and Soros was said to have pocketed at least US$1 billion.

Bank Negara has never confirmed nor denied that this was indeed what happened but the evidence, although circumstantial, points to this as the reason for the loss of RM9.3 billion in its 1992 accounts and the subse quent loss of another RM5.7 billion in 1993, bringing its total loss to RM15 billion.

Was the loss more than RM15~30 bil?

Former Bank Negara assistant governor Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid was reported as saying recently that the losses were actually US$10 billion. That would work out to RM25 billion at the then exchange rate of RM2.50 to a dollar. Murad also alleged that there were no proper investigations into the matter.

Following his allegations, the Cabinet has now set up a task force led by former chief secretary to the government, Tan Sri Sidek Hassan, to investigate whether there were wrongdoings that caused the losses, whether there was a cover-up on the size of the losses, and whether Parliament was misled.

So, who should the task force call up as part of its probe? I am guessing the following:

Tun Mahathir, who was the prime minister then;

Tun Daim Zainuddin, who was the minister of finance from 1984 to 1991 when Bank Negara was active in the forex market;

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was the minister of finance when the losses surfaced in 1992 and 1993;

Dr Lin, who was deputy governor of the central bank then;

Tan Sri Ahmad Don, who succeeded Jaafar as governor;

Murad, who made the allegations; and

Nor Mohamed, who was head of forex operations.

Who is Nor Mohamed?

Nor Mohamed is the man who lost billions for Bank Negara and resigned along with Jaafar in 1993. He then kept a low profile with short spells at RHB Research Institute and Mun Loong Bhd.

In an ironic twist, the man who lost billions for the country was later credited with helping save the ringgit from currency speculators in 1998.

Frustrated by the year-long failure of governments and central banks to fight off speculators, who had devalued Asian currencies (the ringgit plunged to as low as 4.80 to the dollar), Tun Mahathir turned to Nor Mohamed for help. The doctor did not understand how the currency market worked and Nor Mohamed took him through it in great detail. The two men then confidentially devised the plan that shocked the world — the imposition of controls on Sept 1, 1998.

Widely criticised at the time (Ahmad Don and his deputy Datuk Fong Weng Phak resigned in protest), some now say the move helped bring an end to the crisis, as speculators feared other affected countries would do the same.

Nor Mohamed’s star shone again and he later became Minister of Finance 2 under Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He is now deputy chairman of Khazanah Nasional.

But now, a ghost from his past has been dug up as fodder for the political contest between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his biggest nemesis, Tun Mahathir. The objective is obvious. Tun Mahathir has attacked Najib incessantly over 1Malaysia Development Bhd. The current administration is fighting back by saying billions were also lost under Tun Mahathir’s watch. Tun Mahathir says there is a 1MDB cover-up and his foes are accusing him of doing the same.

Will the task force unearth anything that is not already known?

The task force needs three months to complete its work, so we will just have to wait for the full picture before we can come to any conclusion that can bring closure to something that happened 25 years ago.

Perhaps, one day, we will be lucky enough to also have the full picture of the affairs of 1MDB. Current Minister of Finance 2 Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani did say this month that no action had been taken against anyone in Malaysia over 1MDB because we have only “half the story” so far.

In that case, should we not have a task force on 1MDB as well so Malaysians can have the full picture?

By: Ho Kay Tat

Ho Kay Tat is publisher and group CEO of The Edge Media Group

This article appears in Issue 772 (March 27) of The Edge Singapore which is on sale now.

RCI can shed more light on forex losses

Figures could be even greater than what had been disclosed, says STF chairman

KUALA LUMPUR: A Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) can reveal more details on the foreign exchange (forex) losses suffered by Bank Negara (BNM) in the 1980s and 1990s, said Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan.

The chairman of the Special Task Force (STF) to probe the forex losses said the figure was greater than what was disclosed.

However, the STF was unable to scrutinise further due to the limitations that it had, he said in an interview on Friday.

“As a task force, we have limitations. We were established on an administrative basis and not under any legislation.

“As such, the STF had no power to coerce anyone to come forward for any discussion or to give any information,” he said, adding that it only had access to documents that were available to the public, such as BNM’s annual reports and consultations between the central bank and the International Monetary Fund.

“We also cannot compel anyone to come forward. Even if you ask them to come and they don’t want to come, there is no issue about it.

“And even if they came and we questioned them, and they refused to answer, we cannot do anything about it.

“And it was not under oath. Even if they answered, we don’t know if that was the truth.

“So, that is why the RCI is better, although it is safe to say that the STF has reason to believe that the actual loss is different and much more than the figures given earlier,” said Sidek, a former Chief Secretary to the Government.

He added that the RCI could have access to documents relating to the forex losses, for instance from the Finance Ministry or BNM.

On Jan 26, former BNM assistant governor Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid revealed that the central bank suffered US$10bil (RM42.9bil) in forex losses in the early 1990s, much higher than the figure of RM9bil disclosed by BNM.

Subsequently, a seven-member STF headed by Sidek was formed in February.

Sidek, who is Petronas chairman, said the STF focused on the three points in the terms of reference, one of which was conducting preliminary investigations into losses by BNM related to its speculative fo­­reign currency transactions.

It also investigated whether there was any action to cover up the losses and whether the Cabinet and Parliament were misled and it had to submit to the Government recom­mendations for further action, including the establishment of an RCI.

On June 21, the STF submitted its findings, concluding that it found that a prima facie case to merit in-depth investigations by establishing an RCI.

Explaining the process of the investigation, Sidek said 12 people, including former BNM governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, were interviewed by the STF, and all coopera­ted well.

Among the others who were summoned by the STF were PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, and former Finance Minister II and BNM assistant governor at the time Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

Asked on the need to investigate something that happened about two decades ago, Sidek said though it took place a long time ago, it had been revealed that the losses were huge.

“I feel that the people need an explanation on the matter, and the Government had decided to conduct an investigation.

“Therefore, an RCI is the only way for a complete understanding. If this is not done now, the matter will prolong.

“Five or 10 years from now it will crop up again.

“With a full investigation through an RCI, there could be closure to this,” Sidek said. — Bernama

Sunday, 25 June 2017

Easier option: Poor experience with regulated investment product providers may be the reason for investors to go for ‘alternative’

Poor wealth management experiences fuel money games

OVER the past 2 months, it was virtually impossible to pick up any newspaper and not read reports about the money game phenomenon that has taken the media by storm.

It is as if the Pandora’s Box had been suddenly flung open by the exposé of JJPTR, leading to other similar schemes coming to light.

The victim profile ranges from white-collared professionals and savvy businessmen to senior citizens and housewives. It would appear as if just about anyone from different walks of life could be susceptible to these money schemes.

It is easy for observers and bystanders to pin the blame on the investors for getting themselves in a sticky situation. After all, if we apply the caveat emptor (buyer beware) principle to other types of goods and services, the investors should have clearly known the risks of subscribing to these money games and therefore should have been aware of the possibility of losing their investments.

So, what caused groups of people to lose their common sense when it comes to money games?

Scams come in many shapes, sizes and forms but look closely and you will see that they all have many things in common in terms of the modus operandi and the people they seem to attract. From JJPTR and MBI International right at our doorstep to China’s Nanning investment scheme and the most notorious Ponzi scheme of all times – the Madoff scandal, all these scams preyed on innate human weaknesses and appealed to investors’ desire to grow their wealth.

Many would be quick to label these investors as greedy or gullible, but I beg to differ. I see nothing wrong with wanting to achieve financial freedom and get higher investment returns. The people who invested and lost in these scams are not multi-millionaires with ample financial resources. They are average Malaysians who have worked hard and saved their money for a rainy day, only to see their nest egg disappear into thin air. What drove them to place the precious results of their blood, sweat and tears into unregulated investment schemes?

I am convinced that the reason stems from the investors’ poor experience with regulated investment product providers.

The so-called ‘push’ factor

There is a mismatch of what consumers need and what financial institutions are trying to sell. Consumers want guidance on how to use regulated investments as a means to grow their wealth with high certainty and achieve financial freedom.

The general public sees banks as an easy, accessible channel to obtain advice on personal finance and investment matters via wealth management services. There is no issue with legitimacy as the array of financial products and services available through banks are duly approved by the regulatory authorities.

The problem arises when investors are not getting what they need, which is advisory support, from their current wealth management providers. More often than not, investors feel overwhelmed by the choices available in the market. Worse still, investors do not know what action to take when their investments lose money. It is not uncommon to find that the wealth management providers are very attentive and proactive in recommending options; but once the sales is concluded, the investor is basically left to his or her own devices.

As a result of the lack of hand-holding or after-sales service, some investors may find that rather than growing money, they end up losing 20%-30% of their capital. The sheer irony of it is that because of the experience of losing money, they now perceive regulated investments as highly volatile and uncertain, and ultimately lose faith. I have personally encountered clients who harbour such misgivings about unit trusts, that they would bluntly tell me right from the initial meeting, not to propose such options to them.

I realised then the extent to which poor experiences with wealth management providers can lead to misplaced biases against certain investment vehicles even though investors could benefit from the right ones. When disillusioned investors turn their heads elsewhere, this is when they discover “alternative” investment options. And many end up falling for money games because they are sold on the idea of fixed return investments perceived to be low risk, coupled with the promise of better returns.

In this instance, the “push” factor, i.e. the unmet financial needs of consumers, which contributed to investors subscribing to shady schemes, has equal bearing to the “pull” factor (attraction) of these money scams.

“I am like any other man. All I do is supply a demand.” – Al Capone, American mobster

As with most goods and services that are detrimental to our well-being (e.g. junk food, cigarettes, gambling, etc), it is consumers’ demand for them that drives their industry and makes them thrive. Without customers, these shady businesses would naturally die off.

The ability of the money games to proliferate boils down to the “smart” business acumen of the operators to “fill the gap” so to speak. By offering an alternative investment scheme at a time when the market is slow and when many investors are experiencing losses, these money games are seen as a sudden golden ticket towards becoming rich. However, as we have seen, the golden ticket eventually loses its shine and the investors are left holding nothing but a worthless scrap of paper.

Therefore, there would be fewer victims of money games if the wealth management industry as a whole were to step up and reinvent themselves into a genuine one-stop financial centre to help their clients address all financial and investment issues at various points of their lives.

When the grass on one side is always greener, the rest will not matter

In order to ensure that they are seen by clients as the “go-to” person for all financial and investment related concerns, wealth management providers will need to exceed expectations and to a certain degree, over-deliver on their current role.

Wealth managers could assist clients to evaluate various investment proposals to determine its suitability and guide clients to use regulated investment vehicles to invest in various asset classes such as equities, bonds, REITs and foreign investments to grow their money effectively. They could also play the role of a financial bodyguard to help investors fend off scams and illegitimate investments.

In an ideal world, wealth managers will set aside sufficient time and effort to understand the client’s financial position in a holistic manner. They will prepare a tailored and dynamic plan with milestones and checkpoints to help monitor and review progress.

To my peers in the wealth management industry, I would say, cut the lip service and let’s get serious about managing and growing wealth for our clients.

When more and more investors realise that they are able to count on their wealth management providers for all the required support they need to achieve their financial end game, then money games will no longer have room to take root.

Money & You Yap Ming Hui

Yap Ming Hui (ymh@whitman.com.my) is a bestselling author, TV personality, columnist, coach and host of Yap’s Money Live Show online. He feels that the financial world is getting too complicated for everyone, and initiated a weekly online show to address the issues.For more information, please visit his website at www.whitman.com.my

Saturday, 24 June 2017

Engineers are supposed to be born intelligent. If they didn’t get a job they have a lot of tactics by which they can earn money. This humorous story tells us how an Engineer tries to make money from a doctor by taking him on a ride.

Both engineers and doctors are qualified enough to serve the humanity in the best possible way. You might have read many funny stories about fights and quarrel between engineers and doctors, but the one I have come up with today will surely make your day.

Engineer opt doctor’s Profession

This story begins with one of the major problems of the society, which is unemployment. So, one unemployed engineer tried to opt the doctor’s profession because he thinks to be a doctor, he can make money easily

So he opened a medical clinic, puts a sign on the clinic saying that he will charge $500 for the ailment and will pay back $1000 if he fails.

One day, when an unemployed doctor read that statement, he had a thought in his mind to earn $1000 from that engineer.

First Incident

The doctor went to the engineer and told him that he had lost his sense of taste. The engineer who was super smart asked his nurse to bring medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in doctor’s mouth.

Doctor guessed the medicine to be gasoline. The engineer congratulated the doctor saying that his sense of taste was back and charged him $500.

Second Incident

After the first incident, the doctor was very annoyed as to how anyone can make fool of him.So he gets back to the engineer with another plan. He now tells the engineer that he had lost his memory.

Again engineer played tactfully with him and told his nurse to bring medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in doctor’s mouth. Before the nurse could do that, the doctor recalls and says that box contained gasoline.So the Engineer by his smartness told the doctor that his memory was back and charged him $500.

Third Incident

The doctor was very angry after first the two incidents and he decided that he will get his money back. So, he went again to the engineer and told him that he had lost his vision.

The Engineer smartly told him that he had no prescription for it. So he gave him $500. But the doctor impulsively said that the amount was $500, not $1000.

And, again the engineer pointed out to the doctor that, since he knows the difference between $500 and $1000 his eyesight is good. The doctor was left with no option than to accept defeat.

Thursday, 22 June 2017

GEORGE TOWN: Barisan Nasional leaders have criticised the Penang Government for allegedly over-paying, by four times, the detailed design fees of three road projects.

“Construction is not a new industry. Many people are puzzled by the exorbitant consultancy fees,” said Penang MCA secretary Tang Heap Seng in a press statement yesterday.

He said the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) devised a standardised gazetted scale of fees for professional engineering consultancy in accordance with Section 4(1)(d) of the Registration of Engineers Act 1967 (Act 138), and it was highly irregular to deviate from it.

Yesterday, it was reported that Barisan’s strategic communication team sought the professional opinion of BEM on the costing of the three paired roads.

The board was said to have replied that the RM177mil in detailed design costs was four times higher than the maximum allowed under the gazetted scale of fees, which the board calculated to be RM41mil.

The three roads are from Teluk Bahang to Tanjung Bungah, Air Itam to Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway and Gurney Drive to the expressway. They are meant to be a traffic dispersal system for the proposed Penang Undersea Tunnel.

Penang MCA Youth chief Datuk Michael Lee Beng Seng also issued a statement, pointing out that the alleged overpaid amount of RM136mil was more than the reported RM100mil the state spent on flood mitigation in the last eight years.

“We are shocked that the Penang government has put the well-being and safety of the rakyat behind the interests of consultants and contractors.”

On Tuesday, Barisan strategic communications director Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan announced that he was giving the Penang Government a week to explain BEM’s findings, failing which the matter would be referred to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Dawn raids on MBI

Key member of MBI Group International remanded 98 bank accounts containing RM209mil frozen to date Three luxury cars and cash seized

The virtual money scheme operator was hit by three early morning raids in Penang and Kedah as a multi-agency task force acted on intelligence gathered in its ongoing anti-pyramid scheme probe. Investors say they regard this development as a temporary matter, while the public has been urged to come forward and help in the investigation. GEORGE TOWN: After watching the premises closely for a month, the authorities sprang into action and arrested a key person in virtual money scheme operator MBI Group International.

Four bank accounts of a newly- established company that belonged to the suspect’s relative, with deposits totalling RM30mil, were also frozen, while luxury cars and cash were seized in raids on three premises in Penang and Kedah carried out early on Monday morning.

Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry enforcement chief Datuk Mohd Roslan Mahayudin said the suspect, in his 50s, is believed to be the founder of the group.

“He has been remanded for four days since Monday for investigation under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001,” he said.

Speaking to reporters at the Bank Negara Malaysia office here, Mohd Roslan said the operation, codenamed Ops Token II, was staged because the premises were believed to be involved in a pyramid scheme.

“They were believed to be the cash storage transit before the money is transferred to other accounts for the purpose of the scheme’s activities,” he said.

Two of the premises were in Taman MBI Desaku in Kulim, Kedah, and one in Sungai Dua on mainland Penang.

Ops Token II was a follow-up to Ops Token I, which was carried out against Mface Club in Klang Valley and M Mall, Penang, on May 29.

Authorities crack down on MBI

Key person held, luxury cars seized and accounts frozen

GEORGE TOWN: After watching the premises closely for a month, the authorities sprang into action and arrested a key person in virtual money scheme operator MBI Group International.

Four bank accounts of a newly-established company that belonged to the suspect’s relative, with deposits totalling RM30mil, were also frozen, while luxury cars and cash were seized in raids on three premises in Penang and Kedah carried out early on Monday morning.

Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry enforcement chief Datuk Mohd Roslan Mahayudin said the suspect, in his 50s, is believed to be the founder of the group.

“He has been remanded for four days since Monday for investigation under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001,” he said.

Speaking to reporters at the Bank Negara Malaysia office here, Mohd Roslan said the operation, codenamed Ops Token II, was staged because the premises were believed to be involved in a pyramid scheme.

“They were believed to be the cash storage transit before the money is transferred to other accounts for the purpose of the scheme’s activities,” he said.

Two of the premises were in Taman MBI Desaku in Kulim, Kedah, and one in Sungai Dua on mainland Penang.

Ops Token II was a follow-up to Ops Token I, which was carried out against Mface Club in Klang Valley and M Mall, Penang, on May 29.

A feud between the children of Singapore's late founder Lee Kuan Yew has intensified. The family dispute first became public last year on the anniversary of Mr Lee's death, when the prime minister Lee Hsien Loong's sister, Lee Wei Ling, accused him of exploiting the late leader's legacy for personal gain.

This time, Lee Wei Ling and another brother have publicly accused Prime Minister Lee of disobeying their father's last wishes

⛄}《人，只要脾、肝、大肠、肾，四个功能健康，就能永远离开癌症、糖尿病、心脏病、高血压。
We, human being, as long as our spleen, liver, large intestine and kidney are healthy, we will be far away from cancer, diabetes, heart attack and high blood pressure.

🌷} 脾，一定要健康。
Keeping the Spleen healthy must be top priority.

如果有病，就先恢复脾的功能。
Once you are sick, you must work on the recovery of your spleen first.

每天三餐，五谷杂粮一定要占总饮食的 50％，一定要养成这个习惯。
Our daily three meals should contain 50% of grains/wheat/brown rice, must learn to make it as part of our eating habit and diet.

🕙} 脾在造血，一天有两个重要的时间，就是子时24:00和午时12:00，所以，你该休息的时候一定要休息。
..现在的人，大部分都是肝不好，为什么不好？
Spleen is the organ that is manufacturing blood. The important schedules for processing are 12am and 12pm. Thus, when you need to rest, you must rest. Nowadays, they are a lot of people who are having liver problems. Why is it?

...晚睡、吃油炸的东西、坏脾气，这三个正是肝的三大克星。
Sleeping late, eating oily and fried foods and bad mood, these are the three nemesis.

🐷} 油包肝，你吃油的东西，油把整个肝包住，肝的功能完全丧失了，所以说，我们不要吃得太油腻。
When you eat oily foods, oil will cover up your whole liver, your liver will loss its functions.

🚶} 当我们身体感觉不适的时候，此时疾病正在纠正人的过失，用身体的痛苦管教他，有痛苦的时候，代表我们要改变自己的生活方式。
🚽 每天早上，你上厕所感觉很困难，这个表示什么？
When we are feeling uncomfortable, the sickness is coming to rectify our negligence, using pain to educate us, we must change our way of living.
Every morning, do you find difficulty to pass motion? What does that mean?

🍃} 你身体纤维素摄取量完全不足。
Your intake of fibre is not enough.

...万病之源，都是从你的大肠不能正常排泄开始。
Thousands of sickness main problems are caused by the inability to perform daily passing motion through the large intestine.

...如果你的大肠很好，那你早上应该不是自己醒过来，而是被大肠的蠕动叫醒，大肠蠕动在叫你了，为什么？
If your large intestine is good form, in the morning, you will be woken up by the movement of your large intestine calling you.

Why?
...因为五到七点就是大肠最活跃的时间，所以为什么我们告诉癌症病人一定要晚上九点睡，因为你的大肠早上六点到七点的时候自然就会蠕动，叫你起床，蹲马桶了。
Because 5am to 7am, our large intestine is most actively performing it's functions. That's why we inform cancer patients must go to sleep at 9pm. Because large intestine will automatically wake you up between 6am to 7am to sit on the toilet bowl.

💩} 你一天要上几次厕所才够？
How many times you must go to toilet everyday?

请记住：如果四、五天才上一次厕所，叫重度便秘；
Please remember, if it's 4-5 days, you are seriously in constipated.

两三天上一次厕所，这个叫中度便秘；
2-3 days once, considered as medium level of constipation.

一天上一次厕所，叫轻度便秘。
Once a day is mild constipation.

...食物进入体内十二小时，没有排出去，就会形成毒素。
Once the foods is maintained inside our stomach for 12 hours, it became poisonous particles.

... 因为毒素没有排出去，我们的大肠壁就会吸收这个毒素，吸收以后，透过静脉又送回肝脏去，糟糕了！ 造成肝亏损，这个问题就很严重了。
Because the poisonous particles are not passing out, it will be absorbed by the large intestinal wall, which then will send back to the liver, thus, damaging our liver. This will create a serious problem.

💝} 肝不好跟大肠有直接关联，只要大肠一通顺，肝就会好了，免疫系统也跟着恢复，而且送到心脏的血都是干净的，所以什么病都不容易罹患。
There is a direct relationship between our liver and large intestine. Once our large intestine is passable, liver will get recover, and build-up our antibody. Then, blood delivery to heart will be clean and no sickness will attack you.

...当一个人感觉到每天很容易疲倦、很容易累，表示你的肝功能已经出现问题了，血已经没有办法回流到肝！
When you always feel tired or very easy to get tired, that means you are having problems with the liver, your blood is unable to return back to your liver.

💪} 你身体健康靠的是什么？
What is your health depending on?

💤} 睡眠的时间，脾去收集血液，送到肝脏去解毒，解毒以后，干净的血液送到心脏去，心脏再送到全身，就能获得营养，就能获得健康。
While you are sleeping, your spleen is going to collect blood and deliver to the liver for dialysis. After cleaning and filtering up the poisonous particles, it will then deliver to the heart, the heart will then despatch throughout your body. You then received nutrients and get healthy.

💨} 很不幸的是，现代很多人脾已经先出现问题，脾本身就不收集血液。
Unfortunately, nowadays people are having problems with their spleen. Spleen itself is not storing blood.

只有一个办法最养脾，五谷最养脾，可是现代身体为什么都这么差，身体这么多病？
There is only one method to maintain healthy spleen, eating grains/oat/wheat are the most effective way. Why modern body is so poor, with so many sicknesses?

⛳} 恢复四大功能，永远离开病苦!
Recovering back the functionality of the four main organs, sickness will leave you.

😍} 用心多看几次！ 好好照顾自己！ 》 这周是世界好友周，如果你愿意，请把这条信息发给你所有的好朋友 。
Be patient and read this over several times and take good care of yourselves. This week is "world friendship week", send this message to all of your good friends.

...当大部分人都在关注你飞得高不高时，只有少部分人关心你飞得累不累，这就是 友情。
Most people are noticing how high you can fly, but very few people are taking note of how tired you are?

👯} 再忙，也要照顾好自己， 朋友虽不常联系，却一直 惦念。
However busy you are, you must take good care of yourself. Though friends are not always communicating with you but they have you in their mind.

👕} 天凉时记着多穿衣！
When the weather is cold, you must wear enough to keep warm.

👋}四个拥有： 无论你有多弱或多强，一定要: 拥有真正爱你的人， 拥有知心的朋友 ， 拥有向上的事业， 拥有温暖的住所。
Four things you must have. No matter how weak or how strong you are, you must have: people who are truly loving you, have caring friends, progressive business or employment and a warm home.

Sunday, 18 June 2017

As one of the world's major religions, Buddhism is popular in the West despite its foreign origins and language barriers. And with exchanges of ideas between different regions, such as this month's first China-Canada-US Buddhist Forum, Buddhism is likely to become more influential.

The religion is developing at speed, not only in Tibet and across other parts of China but abroad, said Shen.

In these violent times, one of the notable aspects of Buddhism is its teaching of peace. It is said that no wars have been fought in the name of Buddhism.

Dayi Shi, president of the Buddhist Association of Canada, thinks Buddhists' sense of compassion is important.

“In Buddhist history, we don’t have any violence, because Buddha always tells us we have to have compassion," he explained. "We have to respect each other even though we have different beliefs, we have different religions. But we still have to respect each other. Why? Because everybody has the Buddha nature.”

Friday, 16 June 2017

JOHOR BARU: Former state executive councillor Datuk Abd Latif Bandi, his eldest son and a property consultant have been charged with a total of 21 counts of money laundering amounting to RM35.78mil in connection with the massive Johor land scandal that broke out in March.

The former state Housing and Local Government Committee chairman was charged with 13 counts of money laundering amounting to RM17.59mil.

His son Ahmad Fauzan Hatim, 25, and Amir Shariffuddin Abd Raub, 44, were charged with four counts each involving RM735,000 and RM17.46mil respectively.

They are said to have committed the offences via cheque transactions at five major banks around Johor Baru between November 2013 and December 2016.

If found guilty, he can be sentenced to 15 years in jail and fined five times the amount or RM5mil, whichever is higher.

He also claimed trial to six counts under Section 4(1)(a) of the same Act, which carries a jail term of up to five years and a maximum fine of RM5mil, if convicted.

Ahmad Fauzan and Amir Sharifuddin also pleaded not guilty to four counts each under the Section 4(1) (b) and Section 4(1)(a) of the same Act, respectively.

Sessions Court judge Mohd Fauzi Mohd Nasir set bail at RM500,000 for Abd Latif, RM200,000 for Ahmad Fauzan and RM400,000 for Amir Shariffuddin in one surety each, to run concurrently with previously charged offences.

He was referring to the 33 counts of graft that Abd Latif and Amir Shariffuddin had claimed trial to on April 19 for allegedly converting bumiputra lots to non-bumiputra lots involving a total of RM30.3mil in Kota Masai, Tebrau, Kulai, Kempas, Nusajaya and Johor Baru.

The judge also fixed July 5 for next mention.

Abd Latif and Ahmad Fauzan were represented by a five-man legal team led by Datuk Hasnal Rezua Merican while lawyer Azrul Zulkifli Stork stood for Amir Shariffuddin.